Fire Inside
by buri208
Summary: So they made my life miserable. Thats what people do when their pejudices stare them in the face." Joa is different. no flames. pg13 incase
1. Default Chapter

I own nothing. except Joa. and Aimee.

Joa took a deep breath and pushed the office door open. The lady behind the desk looked up.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Um… hi. I'm Joa Linos, and I just transferred here from Ilea High in New Mexico." She smiled, a little nervously.

"Oh, you're the new girl. Aimee!" she called.

A girl stepped forward. "Hi. I'm Aimee, but you probably already figured that out. You must be Joa. I'm here to show you around."

Joa decided that she liked this girl; Aimee had very strong resemblance to her beagle, Beanie. They were bold, energetic, and very friendly. "Thanks." Joa dug into her bag, and came up with a class schedule. She swore. "My first day and I'm already late. Oh, well. Let's go."

She checked her schedule again. 207. This had to be the right room. Joa took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

"Can I help you?" the teacher asked. He was kind of heavy, but had a nice face.

_Second time someone's asked me that today, _Joa thought to herself. She walked to his desk. Whispers filled the air. "Hi, I'm Joa. This is my first day. Are you Mr. Cheli?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," he answered.

"Great. I tried four class rooms before I found yours."

"Alright, you can sit in the back row in the empty seat."

"Thanks."

He cleared his throat. "Class, please settle down, and open your text books to page 37, The Breakup of the Soviet Union."

Aimee met Joa after her last class before lunch.

"How was your morning?" Aimee asked as they walked towards their lockers, which happened to be next to each other.

"I survived," Joa said dryly. Then something or rather _someone _caught her eye. "Who is _that_?" she asked.

"Serena." She sounded wistful. "A lot of guys like her, but she has a big scary boyfriend. I've met him." She shuddered. "All of a sudden I had this incredible urge to run, but a lot of girls want to look like her." She smiled. "Here are our lockers."

Joa rummaged through the pockets of her black jeans, and came up with her locker combo. She opened her locker and her hand closed around two Hershey's kisses. She held them out to Aimee and smiled. "Want one?"

"Secret admirer?" she asked disbelieving.

"No," Joa said, voice muffled by her locker. She grabbed her lunch, and slammed her locker. "Ellie."

"Who's Ellie?"

"She's my twin. Older by a minute and a half, and my complete opposite. Let's go." They went off to lunch.

Yes, I know the beginning's dry as dirt, but it gets better, I swear. Read and review, to show you actually read this.

Hugs

Buri208


	2. School part 2 plus, as an added bonus, f...

a/n if you are a homophobe, STOP READING RIGHT NOW! Or continue at your own risk. Maybe my next story will be homophobe friendly.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Joa punched her alarm clock, as visions of strangling to moron who had invented the alarm clock danced in her head.

"You awake?" her sister called thru the door. Joa groaned and rolled over. Elli opened the door and poured water on Joa's bed head. Joa screamed and rolled out of bed. Elli ran away chortling, and nearly missed the pillow that Joa launched at her.

Joa dusted herself off, and went into the bathroom, mutter about "sisters who are too cheerful for their own good," and "alarm clocks that don't shut up." She turned the shower on and brushed her teeth.

Twenty minutes later Joa was sitting on her bed, wrapped in a towel, brushing her hair and trying to figure out what to wear to school. She decided on a red halter-top with a rhinestone star on the front, and black jeans. _Well, it's not like I have anyone to dress up for,_ she speculated as she pulled on a pair of blue and white sneakers. She went down stairs. (a/n dun dun dun (just kidding))

Elli was eating breakfast in the kitchen. She put down her muffin and eyed Joa's outfit.

Joa put down her bagel slowly. "What's wrong this morning?"

"I have a jean mini in my closet that would look great with that."

"Why is in that _I'm_ the gay one, and _you're_ the one giving fashion advice?"

Elli ignored her. "And you're going to have to wear sleeves over that. Dress code."

"Fine!" she threw up her hands in a gesture of submission. "I'll wear the mini." then went back upstairs.

Elli smiled. "I knew you'd see it my way.

Joa opened Elli's closet door. _I don't even want to know why she has so many clothes, _she thought to herself. She pulled on the mini, and grabbed a shiny blue jacket, then went back downstairs.

"Better." Ellie said decisively. "But those shoes…"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Joa grabbed her backpack and left.

"Wait for me!" Elli squealed and dashed after her sister. She caught up at the corner. "You walk to fast," she gasped.

"Maybe you walk too slow," Joa retorted. they walked in silence for a minute.

"Joa?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't really like the idea of you telling people that you're a lesbian."

"It's my choice to make. There are homophobes everywhere, and I doubt that they'll be as radical here."

"I'm sorry. I'm just worried. I don't want you to be another Kiera." Joa stopped abruptly. "I- Oh my gosh. I did it again."

Joa started stiffly walking again. "It's OK."

"No, it's not. I know it's not. But I'm getting better. We used her in normal conversation for 3 years. You want to talk about it?"

"No." they walked in silence for a minute. "Yes. I killed her Elli." Joa whispered, Tears streaming down her cheeks. "If she had never met me she'd be alive today."

Elli hugged her. "Maybe she would. And maybe she wouldn't. We'll never know. Everything happens for a reason, Joa. Even if we never know what that reason is. What happened at the trial, if you don't mind me asking?"

Joa smiled, but it was not a happy smile. "I pleaded guilty, but I was just a witness so they didn't arrest me. The only thing I did right in this whole damn mess. And they didn't arrest me. You should know. It was all over the papers. A homophobe kills a gay person and the whole country knows about it."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

They walked the rest of the way to school in silence.

a/n I told you it would get more interesting!

Read!

buri208

p.s. I write for myself, and I only post it because I want to add something to replace all the great stories I've read, so if you don't have anything nice to say, refrain from reviewing.


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